Chocolate Cherry Bars

It's Monday yet again. Do the weeks seem to fly by to anyone else? We had a really busy weekend and it's kind of nice to get back to normal again. My family came up to visit us and since we haven't seen them since Christmas, that was lots of fun. The boys even got to go swimming for the first time in their hotel pool. I wasn't sure if Superman would even try it, and he was very nervous about it at first, but he did let us take him in the water and had some fun too! The little boys were okay with it but Spiderman would not let go of me for anything. 

We had the big birthday party for all three boys on Saturday. That was a lot of work and it turned out pretty good. I'll post pictures of it later this week, we had a Curious George theme. And of course the boys got lots of new toys to play with, so our living room has been a mess ever since! (It's pretty much always a mess of toys anyways...)

I usually post a recipe every Monday and this week I made some Chocolate Cherry Bars! Yet another dessert, we eat too many sweets around here I think! But these bars were so easy to make and they were delicious. Here's the recipe if you want to make some too! 

Chocolate Cherry Bars (adapted from Julie's Eats & Treats)

• 1 package Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
• 1 can Cherry Pie Filling
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 
  
• Frosting:
• 2 cups Sugar
• 8 Tablespoons Butter
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1 cup Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 15x11 inch jelly roll pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Mix the cake mix, cherry pie filling, vanilla and eggs together. Pour into the pan. 

3. Bake for 20-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

4. Boil the sugar, butter and milk for one minute. Stir in the chocolate chips until melted. Pour this frosting over the bars when they are still warm. 

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Cookie Monster Dessert Bars

If you have little children that are fans of Sesame Street or Cookie Monster they will love these bars! Perfect to make for a Sesame Street birthday party. My little boy loves Elmo and Cookie Monster the best, although we don't watch the show all that often. I made these delicious bars based on a recipe from Gal on a Mission. Of course you can make them with a different colored cake mix and call them something else, but I liked how the blue velvet turned out. 

They were super easy to make which is a huge plus in my book, it only takes four ingredients! They taste great too! It's always fun to have brightly colored food. Here's the recipe:

Cookie Monster Dessert Bars 

• Blue Velvet Cake Mix (or any other cake mix will work too)
• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 cup Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x9 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, butter and egg. Mix until a dough forms. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Press the dough into the baking dish. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until the top starts to brown. Allow to cool completely before cutting. 

See what I mean, it's super easy! Enjoy your yummy bars!

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Cream Cheese Chocolate Cake Bars

Are you looking for something yummy and moist and full of both chocolate and white chocolate to make for dessert? Well then you've found the perfect recipe! These bars are made with a Devil's Food cake mix and covered with white and dark chocolate chips with a layer of cream cheese on top of all that. They are also fast and easy to make, which is always a plus for me. And of course they are filled with delicious goodness so who wouldn't love them! I found this recipe over at Averie Cooks. 

We had pictures with the boys yesterday for their birthdays. They did not go very well at all, sadly. We did get a few good shots, but two of the boys were crying and not cooperating. My little Batman was great though, he was the only one that was happy to be there. I don't know when we will get a good picture with all three boys in it! But enough about our sad adventures in photography. Here is the recipe you've been looking for:

Cream Cheese Chocolate Cake Bars

• 1 box Devil's Food Chocolate Cake Mix
• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter,softened
• 1 Egg
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1-2 Tablespoons of Cold Brewed Coffee or Water, as needed
• 3/4 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 3/4 cup White Chocolate Chips
• 1 can (14 ounces) Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x13 inch baking dish with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, butter, egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla and mix well. If you need to you can add 1-2 Tablespoons of coffee or water to help mix it together as it will be extremely thick. Press this dough into the prepared pan. 

3. Sprinkle the white and semi-sweet chips over the top of the batter. 

4. In another bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Pour this mixture over the dough in the pan, using a spatula to spread out evenly. 

5. Bake for 24-27 minutes or until the edges of the bars just start to brown. Allow the bars to cool well before cutting and serving them. 

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Snickerdoodle Pie

Do you love Snickerdoodle cookies or bars? I know the bars are my favorite dessert. Then I found this awesome Snickerdoodle pie! It's really yummy and makes your whole house smell delicious when you bake it! Almost as good as the plain old bars. The best part is the syrup on top that soaks down into the rest of the pie. It's perfect with some whipped cream or ice cream. Although I don't like either of those things, so for me plain is better.  

  

Snickerdoodle Pie (recipe found at Tastes of LizzyT)

1 Pie Pastry Shell

2 teaspoons Butter, melted

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

Syrup:

1/4 cup Butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons Water

1 teaspoon Vanilla

2 Tablespoons Corn Syrup

Batter:

1/4 cup Butter, softened

1/2 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

1 Egg

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1/2 cup Milk

1 1/4 cup Flour 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the pie crust into a 9inch pan. Spread the melted butter around the bottom of the pie crust and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sugar and cinnamon on top. 

2. To make the batter, cream the butter and sugar together. Add in the powdered sugar, baking powder, salt, cream of tartar, egg, vanilla, milk and flour in that order. Combine until just mixed and spread into the pie crust. 

3. To make the syrup, mix the sugar, butter, cinnamon, water and corn syrup in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and let it boil gently for 2 minutes while you stir it. Remove from the heat and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

4. Slowly pour the syrup over the batter. Cover the edges of the crust with foil. Bake for 25 minutes then remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes.

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Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake Bars

These delicious Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake Bars were the perfect dessert for our Easter dinner last week. Of course they would be good anytime, full of yummy lemon and creamy cheesecake with a little bit of strawberry flavor added in. Just in time for spring...although right now our spring is pretty dreary, rainy and cold. It has to get sunny and warm soon, right!?! I need to get my garden ready to be planted in the next couple of weeks and I can't wait!

I woke up this morning to a dog whining and barking to be let out (not so great to hear) and my babies were laughing and talking in their beds to each other (this was the best!) They have been doing this most of the mornings and it's so much fun to hear the giggling coming from the monitor instead of crying. The only thing is now they also do this during nap time! And they are at that stage where they can pull themselves up on things but can't get back down. It's so cute though, I don't even mind going in there 100 times to lay them back down!

Now onto the delicious recipe! I think this is the first dessert I've had on here so far.

Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake Bars (recipe found at Inside BruCrew Life)

• 1 box Lemon Cake Mix
• 1/3 cup Butter, melted
• 1/3 cup Lemonade
• 8 oz. package Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 cup Strawberry Preserves
• 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

 

2. Mix the dry cake mix, butter and lemonade together. Press half of this dough into the bottom of the baking dish. It will be sticky, some non-stick spray on your hands will probably help.

 

3. Beat the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add in the egg and beat again. Spread this over the dough in the baking dish.

 

4. Microwave the preserves for about 20-30 seconds and drop by small spoon-fulls across the cream cheese layer. Use a knife to swirl the preserves, carefully.

 

5. Flatten small pieces of the remaining dough and place it across the top of the bars. It won't cover every inch of it, but try to cover most of it. 

 

6. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove and cool for 2 hours. Refrigerate until completely chilled. 

 

7. Stir together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle over the bars and top with sprinkles if you want to. Make sure you add the sprinkles right away or they won't stick. Keep the bars refrigerated. 

 

 

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